The University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce the 2008UF Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels: "ImageSexT: Intersections of Sex, Gender, andSexuality," which will be held in Gainesville, Florida, on March 21-22, 2008.

This sixth annual conference on comics will focus on issues of representation in the most literalsense: that of the image on the page (screen, monitor, etc.). We are interested in papers thatmove beyond facile reiterations of identity politics to explore the complexities and complexes ofbodies and desires for artists, writers, and readers of comics. Here we are using "comics" in itsbroadest sense, to include animation, manga, anime, graphic novels, webcomics, politicalcartoons, and even some "fine art." Theoretically grounded work is preferred, but we also have aninterest in archival, historical, and creative papers. The goal of this conference is to encourageinterdisciplinary discussion incorporating diverse approaches to the comics representation ofsex, gender, and sexuality.

Confirmed guests for this year include Phoebe Gloeckner (Diary of a Young Girl) and Gail Simone(Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman); invited guests include Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets).

Possible topics include but are not limited to:â€¢ Autobiographical and authorial issues of sex and gender in comics, including issues ofveiled autobiography, writing across gender lines, collaboration, and adaptation (Stuck RubberBaby, Fun Home, The Authority, Fritz the Cat)â€¢ Archival/historical work on depictions of the body, intercourse and identity includingpersistence and/or revision of stereotypes (Tijuana Bibles, Charles Atlas ads, homosexuality inearly animation, Air Pirates Funnies)â€¢ Who's drawing my body? Self- and Other-representations and culture wars (Goth comics,Superhero(ine) physiques, Dirty Plotte)â€¢ Fans turn Pro (and vice versa): sex and gender issues at the boundary between and in thetransition from fandom to professional comics (letters pages, undergrounds, fanzines, weblogs,fanfic, slash and doujinshi origins)â€¢ Indeterminacy, including queer readings, secret identities, and the act of passing in andthrough comics (How Loathsome, Death Note, Black Hole, The Book of Lost Souls)â€¢ "How ethics spoiled my pleasure": including how female fans read and enter comics, ourimplication in â€“ and pleasure from â€“ objectification, and the comic as part of a cultural circuit ofcapital and power (Girl-Wonder.org, Women in Refrigerators, Sequential Tart)â€¢ The comic book fetish, including the materiality of the comic, the pleasure of reading, and"slabbing"â€¢ The perversity of children's narratives (Strawberry Panic, Hikaru no Go, Lost Girls, Diary of aYoung Girl)â€¢ Politics and sex, including political allegory in comics, metaphors of otherness, and sex andcensorship (V for Vendetta, Y the Last Man, Alias, Superfly)â€¢ Representation and its necessary problems, from signifying male- or femaleness to figuringsex and desire, through drawings of bodies and acts, or depicting intimacy and pleasure (Diaryof A Dominatrix, Clumsy, Playboy comics, (non-) explicit animation)â€¢ International issues, including trade and censorship, translations, and taboos (scanlations,fansubbing, "official" translations, cross-cultural marketing and audiences)

Abstract submissions should be approximately 250-500 words in length. Presentations will be15 minutes with 5 minutes of question and answer. The deadline for abstract submissions isDecember 1, 2007.